Cult of Evil
by tehedward
Summary: It's a cult of sinister origins. It's teachings permeate through the minds of all wizarding kind, slowly and deliberately degrading the moral fiber of wizarding culture. Once again it seems like it's up to Harry Potter to save the day.


** Standard Disclaimer, I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I wrote this a couple of weeks ago when I was feeling bored and decided to post it. Hope you all enjoy.**

**s**

**Chapter 1**

**s**

Harry was in a foul mood, he was in the middle of a quidditch match and it just didn't matter. He had been read the riot act earlier today by Angelina for "bating" Umbridge, yeah bating Umbridge, if he fucking breathed too loud she was on him like Ron on blood pudding, and she had the gall, the nerve, to flat out tell him that if he missed another practice or missed a game she was booting him from the team. Like he asked for Umbridge to target him like she did, like he asked to be called a liar and an attention seeker for trying to warn people that Voldemort was back. Because yes, he so enjoyed having his hand sliced open by that sociopathic bitch. It had been on the tip of his tongue to tell Angelina where she could take her ultimatum and where she could shove it. So much for team loyalty.

But he had reigned in his temper, flying was one of the few good things about Hogwarts these days, too bad the experience was being ruined by this stupid match. He wished the damn Snitch would show up, he was pretty much ready to be done for the day. The match had been going on for about 45 minutes now and Gryffindor was up by two points against Slytherin. The first match of the year and Malfoy was being his usual foul self, his taunts for some reason getting to him more than usual, he wanted to take his broom stick and break it over the git's head. He had enough to deal with he didn't need to put up with that little bastard.

Why was he doing this, why was he playing? He wasn't having any fun, Angelina had sucked all the fun out of Quidditch for him. Her ingratitude for his efforts and her lack of support during this time had been extremely off putting, and the rest of the team hadn't been any better. Less vocal, but certainly not supportive. In fact it was the same thing every year over and over again.

First year, Harry catch the snitch, I don't care that a professor is trying to kill you.

Second year, so what if everyone is ostracizing you because they think you're the heir of Slytherin, get over it and catch the Snitch.

Third year, Harry if you can't find a way to keep the dementors from sucking out your soul and find a way around that crazed murderer that is after you, sorry Sirius, then you're off the team. Forget your safety, forget you, if you can't catch the snitch for us.

Fourth year, no Harry, we've only known you for four years now, we know you're not the type of person to cheat, except we think you are and are going to tell everyone that and not believe a word you say.

This year, Harry, no one cares about right or wrong or if Voldemort is back and the only concern we have about that psycho who is cutting your hand open is if she is affecting your ability to Catch. That. Bloody. Snitch.

The only thing these people care about is this damn sport. And Harry had a thought cross his mind that he never thought he would have in his entire life, _'I honestly don't care if I ever play Quidditch again.'_ Ron would probably faint… Hermione would probably approve. Harry didn't care either way, it wasn't fun anymore, didn't these people realize that there were bigger issues than some stupid school cup? He didn't even care if Malfoy finally beat him to the Snitch just so long as this game was over.

He had beaten Malfoy so many times that it just wasn't a challenge anymore, he knew, and everyone else knew that he could outfly anyone in this school. There was no challenge anymore and everyone in this school had pretty much killed any team or house spirit he once had. He wanted this match to end, really how could they keep playing like this. It's not like the other players mattered, 90% of the time they won because of him anyway. At a professional level it was different, at the professional level every player mattered, but this wasn't a professional level, this was the freaking kiddie league.

As he watched the other players zip around the field, the game no longer had the same magic, the same draw that it once had. He would have been content to just float around and enjoy the nice summer breeze. He was half tempted to just float down to the ground and walk off the field, if people had hated him for last year for the whole Goblet of Fire thing, then they would be calling for his head if he did that. It was insane, yes enjoying a sport was fine, but Quidditch wasn't a sport, it was a freaking cult! One that he had bought into, he had drunk from the Quidditch Kool-Aid and had become one of the countless sheep who worshiped at its alter.

He wondered briefly if this is why Hermione was so indifferent to the sport, had she seen what he hadn't, seen just how ridiculous, how asinine this sport really was… probably, but he also knew his friend well enough to know that she just wasn't interested in sports.

Why did these people, wizards and witches, pureblood and muggleborn alike, even come to Hogwarts, what was the point of getting an education of getting a job, all they wanted to do was sit down and watch this pointless game. All Voldemort had to do to conquer the wizarding world was set up a never ending game of Quidditch. People would come in droves to sit down and watch it, never mind his Death Eater shite, he could control the masses through Quidditch. Kind of like the Roman emperors of old and their gladiator arenas. All hail emperor Voldemort, Bringer of Bludgers, Lord of Qauffles and Master of the Snitch.

A flash of gold catches his eye, bringing him out of his thoughts and back to reality, and there right by his left hand is the Snitch and before a cat could blink Harry had it safely grasped in his hand. Finally, finally this match could end… or... A wicked thought enters Harry's mind. If they were so fond of Quidditch, if all they cared about was this game and sod all else, well… then who was he to deprive them of it, after all the game of Quidditch didn't end until the Snitch was caught and from the looks of things nobody had noticed that he had caught it yet. Yes… why not let the game drag on a little longer, and for the first time in days a smile crossed his face, no it wasn't a happy smile, it was the smile of someone who was about to get one over on people who had pissed him off, but it was a smile none the less.

And so very discreetly Harry takes the Snitch and securely places it inside his robe.

**s**

**xXx-Scene Break-xXx**

**s**

It was three hours later and Harry was having the time of his life, he flew around the field, not a care in the world. While below him, the players of both teams were getting more and more agitated as the game pressed on. As an added bonus that little git, Malfoy, looked ready to tear his own hair out as he desperately searched for the Snitch. Even the crowd seemed to be getting restless, they couldn't remember a time when a game had dragged on this long.

Finally having enough, Angelina called for a time out, as the Gryffindor team formed a huddle and Harry looked at the exhausted faces of his team, both Katie and the twins were breathing heavy, Alicia was tilting to the left and wincing, a Bludger to the arm earlier taking its toll, and she looked a little pale and as for Ron, despite how much he loved Quidditch he had never spent this much time on a broom in a match and it was starting to get really uncomfortable. And Harry thought that maybe they had had enough and that he should put an end to it… and then Angelina opened her mouth.

"What the hell Potter! Why haven't you found that Snitch yet! This is getting ridiculous, what are you doing sleeping up there!? Get your ass in gear!"

Yeah a couple more hours wouldn't hurt, Harry decided.

"Hey! You think you can do better you're welcome to trade me, because if you'll notice Malfoy hasn't caught the snitch either!" Harry snarls, becoming captain of the Quidditch team was the worst thing that had ever happened to Angelina as far as Harry was concerned.

"It's not my job to catch the Snitch it's yours, I'm a chaser remember, not a seeker." She growls right back.

Harry decides to bait her a little. "And a fantastic job you're doing at it too, Slytherin is only up by what? Six points?"

Angelina screams in frustration at him and lunges to probably strangle him if the way that her hands and fingers were extended were any indication, Fred and George moved to intercept her and she takes a few moments to visibly calm herself. "Just find the snitch!"

And with that Angelina ends the time out and the game resumes. Harry decides to take off as high into the sky as he ever has and just enjoy. The game is over already, they just don't know it yet. He spends a good twenty minutes just floating around, enjoying the pure freedom that comes with being in the air, when he finally looks down he sees that the game is still going furiously and so he decides to head back down.

"Oi Scar head!" Harry turns and looks over, as Malfoy flies over to him, "I thought you smartened up and quit, you've spent so much time up in the clouds I thought you had gone mad." He cackles as if he had something terribly clever.

"Not at all Malfoy, I just figured I would give you a fair shot at catching the Snitch." Harry looks him up and down with an unimpressed look on his face. "Doesn't seem to have done you any good."

Malfoy sneers and then veers off to continue his futile search for the little golden ball nestled securely against his chest. Harry scans the crowd, all of them look to be getting a little antsy at this point, five measly hours and they were already feeling restless, well they hadn't seen anything yet. He looks around and see's Hermione still in the stands but her nose is buried in a rather large tome. He can't help but grin and with a quick loopty-loop to avoid a bludger that had flown his way he glides over to his friend.

He hovers just above her head, everyone looking at him weirdly, except for her, not having noticed his presence yet. He can't help but chuckle, she couldn't even pretend to be interested in Quidditch by this point. He lazily dangles from his broom and starts to gently tug on her hair, just enough to bug her. She swats his hand away, thinking it was a bug and continues reading. Harry repeats the process three more times, each time she swats his hand away, before she finally looks up and nearly jumps out of her skin, startled by Harry's appearance.

"Harry! You prat! What do you think you are doing?" She asks clutching her chest and slowly sitting back down, an annoyed glare on her face.

Harry just grins at her, "Wat'cha readin'?"

"**A Treatise on Rune Law and its Effect on Planetary Lay Lines**, why?"

"Is it good?" He asks, completely ignoring her question.

She rolls her eyes at him, knowing that he's just trying to get a rise out of her. "Yes it is, quite good actually."

"What's it about?"

She shakes her head, "Don't you have a match to get to?"

"It'll keep, what's your book about?"

"It's about the way that various runes interact in different locations around the world and also how the same runes can have very different effects based on the order they are written, medium used, time of day and month written as well as taking into consideration their location to and the power of, the various magical lay lines that run through-out the world."

"Mmhm, mmhm," Harry says nodding along as if he understood every word out of her mouth.

"Harry, why the sudden interest in what I'm reading, shouldn't you be playing your little Quidditch game?"

"I am playing Quidditch!" He says in an affronted manner, "Can't you see the elegant broom stick and the tacky Quidditch uniform? But I'm curious and maybe I want to take my education more seriously, broaden my horizons a bit, who's to say I can't do both?"

Hermione shakes her head and bites her lower lip, an amused smile on her face. "Not me, to be sure, but Professor McGonagall might have some issue with it." She says pointing to the side and sure enough McGonagall was storming her way over, a fierce look on her face, as if she were about to breath fire.

"Mr. Potter, just what'n the bloody blazes doya think yer doin!?" Her Scottish accent thicker than usual. She seemed rather perturbed at him, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

"I'm talking with Hermione professor," He says as innocently as possible, "She was just telling me all about her book."

"You are in the middle of a game!" She shrieks.

"I know! It's making it terribly difficult to discuss this **How to Treat Runes and get Laid with Lines**, book of Hermione's, terribly fascinating stuff." He says in mock offense, as if he couldn't believe that Quidditch had the gall to interrupt his book time.

"**A Treatise on Rune Law and its Effect on Planetary Lay Lines**." Hermione corrects him, the smile never leaving her face. She was curious about what Harry was up to, he hadn't been this playful in a long time. Yes he picked a rather inconvenient time to do it, not that it was any skin off her nose, and she would rather see her best friend happy and playful than miserable, no matter what the time or what was going on.

"Right that." Harry nods his head seriously.

"Mr. Potter… I… you… Look!" she says completely flustered by Harry's lack of care over the match, pointing behind him at the field.

Both Slytherin and Gryffindor teams staring at him in various degrees of disbelief, confusion, and outrage. In fact the entire stadium was staring at him in variations and combinations of those three emotions.

"Woops." He says sheepishly, "I should probably get back to the game."

"I think that would be a good idea Mr. Potter." McGonagall says in a very clipped tone.

"Yeah jeeze Hermione, stop distracting me with your awesome books! Gosh!" And with a wink to his friend who is shaking her head at him, giggling at his antics, Harry flies back to his team. The twins are openly gaping at him, for the first time their lives they are at a complete loss for words, stunned by Harry's complete disregard of Quidditch. Alicia and Katie were both glaring at him, they had pretty much sweat through their uniforms and were tired and hungry and wanted to be done. Ron looked like he had no idea about what to think or feel, on the one hand it was Quidditch and Harry's actions were sacrilege, on the other hand Harry seemed to be in a good mood for the first time since early last year, it was good to see him in high spirits. Of course his seat area was killing him… so maybe he was leaning a bit more towards the angry side. And as for Angelina, Harry could swear that he could see the steam pouring from her ears. Her teeth were clenched and her face was red.

"What!...I!... You!"

"What the hell are you guys doing?!" Harry scolds them, "We're in the middle of a game against Slytherin and you guys are just floating around like little butterflies! Get your heads in the game!" Harry yells, and then takes off "in search" of the Snitch, unable to keep the grin off of his face.

As another hour passes Harry has taken to floating above the match, not enough to be considered inappropriate but certainly not enough to be considered as an active participant. He watched as the two teams ran out of plays to try and did the same things over and over again. Harry was bored, not enough to end things, but definitely enough to shake it up a bit.

He sees Alicia make a long arching pass to Angelina and Harry springs into action, he swoops in and steals the Qauffle in mid-flight and takes off towards the Slytherin goal post, he fakes to the right and scores through the middle hoop.

He had almost fallen off his broom laughing at the collective cheer of the crowd when he had begun his stealing of the Qauffle, those cheers had all turned to groans when they saw that he hadn't found the Snitch. He ignored the obscenities that Angelina, Alicia, and even Katie were screaming at him for interrupting them like that as he got another wicked idea.

He gave it a good thirty minutes waiting for Malfoy to be nearby and just behind him before he swooped down into a steep dive. The crowd gasped as he gave chase to an imaginary Snitch, Malfoy and the crowd having fallen for it began to go wild as they thought the race was on to catch the Snitch and win the game. Harry pulled out all of the stops, putting Malfoy through the ringer, with twists and turns that were simple enough for his Firebolt, but pushed the limits of his Nimbus 2001. Malfoy hadn't spotted the Snitch yet, but he would be damned if he let scar head beat him to it again.

Harry let the chase continue for a few minutes before he came to an abrupt stop, and watched as Malfoy shot right past him and then stop as well, his head craning around, desperately searching for the Snitch.

Harry began to crack up and Malfoy's face turned red with embarrassment, the boos and jeers from the entire crowd were well worth it.

**s**

**xXx-Scene Break-xXx**

**s**

Harry was once again bored. Again, it wasn't enough to end the game but just enough that he needed to do something. It was late in the afternoon and everyone could agree that the game had gone on long enough, but like Harry had predicted, they were too embedded in the cult of Quidditch to actually leave.

He scans around for something to do when he finally spots Luna Lovegood in the crowd. She was doodling on a pad of paper and wearing those ridiculous radish earrings of hers as well as big 3D glasses, and Harry was struck with the thought that she looked quite cute as well.

Yeah she could be a little weird at times but honestly this whole school year and particularly the events leading up to this match had practically killed any concern he had over what people thought of him. He knew people would think it was weird that he thought Luna was cute, he didn't particularly care. He glides over to the Ravenclaw fourth year and smiles brightly at her when she looks up at him.

"Hello Luna."

"Hello Harry Potter."

"Luna, may I ask you something personal?"

"I don't see why not," she answers with a shrug, "but I can't promise that'll I'll answer."

"Fair enough." Harry agrees. "Okay so hypothetically speaking-"

"Oh, you shouldn't speak in hypotheticals Harry Potter, they summon Mugwampers, tiny little fairies that steal the stitching from your clothes… unless you're trying to get peoples clothes to fall off…" She trails off seemingly perplexed why anyone would want to do such a thing.

"Only some peoples." He says with a flirtatious smile and a wink, enjoying the ruby red flush that comes across her face after he says that.

"Oh my, um… Harry…"

"So, intentionally speaking in hypotheticals now, if a bloke wanted to ask you out to Hogsmeade this next weekend, what would be the best route to go about doing it? I mean do you want something straightforward, just come up and ask you? Do you want something grand, like maybe a big colorful sign in the great hall? Should they pass you a note in class? What would it take to get a yes to a date with you next weekend, once again speaking in hypotheticals, and fervently hoping the Mugwampers show up soon." Harry has no idea where all of this confidence is coming from and frankly he doesn't care, he's going to take every advantage of it while it's there.

Luna is beet red and has no idea how to respond, she's pretty sure that Harry not only just said that he wants to see her naked but also that he wants to ask her out on a date. No one had ever asked her out before, especially no one as cute and as popular as Harry was. She, like many other young witches, had quite the crush on the boy and she was hoping against her better judgment, because she had been burned in the past, that despite the way he was going about it, he was serious about asking her.

"Well… um… for um… me personally, I think that if a boy wanted to ask me out to Hogsmeade then all he would have to do is… well ask. If he were serious about asking that is?" And Luna feels a little embarrassed, for perhaps the first time ever, at how hopeful her voice sounds.

Harry smiles at her, a warm genuine smile. "Well then Luna Lovegood, I think you are a really cute and interesting person and I would like to get to know you better, so would you please be my date to Hogsmeade next weekend?"

Luna felt feint, but she had at least enough presence of mind to nod her head in agreement.

"Wonderful, I can't wait." And with that he takes off back into the sky, while everyone around her just stares. Harry Potter had put a game of Quidditch on hold just to ask out Luna Lovegood. Cho Chang smiles at the obviously flustered younger girl, whom she had been sitting next to while all of that had just happened. Yes she liked Harry, but she also recognized that right now she wasn't the most emotionally stable person in the world and that despite the affection she felt for Harry as an individual a lot of her feelings for the boy were now directly tied to Cedric Diggory, whom she had loved, and that she really wasn't in any place to be dating right now.

"Luna! This is so exciting!" Cho says to the strange young Ravenclaw. Luna looks up and smiles shyly at the older girl.

"I think I've just been asked out on my first date." She says softly, like she can't quite believe it.

"Well then, we'll just have to make sure that you are properly prepared." Cho says kindly.

**s**

**xXx-Scene Break-xXx**

**s**

"Harry, what in the seven blazing hells do you think you're doing!" Angelina screams at him.

Harry decides to play dumb. "Well I was asking a cute girl out on a date before someone else beat me to it, and now I'm playing a game of Quidditch. Why? What are you doing?"

It was a good thing Harry was prepared for this as well as being such a spectacular flyer because even he was caught off guard by how fast Angelina went after him, screaming obscenities that would have made Mundungus Fletcher blush.

Harry flew every bit as boldly and gracefully as he had that day he had out flown a dragon and he couldn't help but chuckle at the similarities between then and now, Angelina looked every bit as ready to breath fire as the Horntail had.

He knew he shouldn't, that he was likely going to give the poor girl an aneurism, but then he remembered just how awful she had been to him lately and decided, to just do it. "Angelina! What's wrong, why are you so mad!? Is this because I asked Luna out instead of you? I had no idea you had such strong feelings for me and I apologize for hurting you like this, but it's like you're my big sister, dating you would be like incest!" Harry manages to keep a straight face even though all he wants to do is laugh at the inhuman scream of range that escapes from Angelina as she chases him down with renewed vigor.

Madame Hooch is blowing her whistle like crazy, trying desperately to restore order, while everyone is watching in morbid fascination as the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, tries to murder her seeker.

By now Hermione has realized something is up, well she had realized something was up quite a bit ago when Harry had come and talked to her, the only difference was now she was curious.

Finally with the combined efforts of Madam Hooch and the Weasley twins they managed to restrain Angelina, and the Slytherin team was awarded two penalty shots due to Gryffindor's unsportsmanlike conduct. It was the best Madam Hooch could do, no team had ever turned on itself the way that Gryffindor seemed to be doing right now, and she wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

When the penalty shots were taken and the game finally resumed, Hermione caught Harry's eye and waved him over.

"Harry-"

"Great Hermione, just the person I wanted to speak to. I've got a date with Luna next week and I've just realized that the only other date I've ever had was the Yule ball and that ended in disaster, I need your help planning it out. I really want it to go well."

"Of course Harry, but that's not important now-"

"Not important!" Harry yells in what she can tell is mock outrage. "My heart is on the line and you say that's not important! What kind of friend are you?"

"Listen Harry-"

"I'll tell you what kind of friend you are, my best friend, who may not care about the condition of my heart but who I can always count on to do me a really important favor, especially if it involves important research and getting one over on certain shall we say, less than savory elements."

"Harry!... what do you mean?" Hermione asks, curiosity peaked.

"I need you to look up Ministry guidelines and regulations of Quidditch, especially in terms of when they can end a game whether or not a snitch has been caught or not, and if they can end a game how do I stop them?"

"Harry!" Hermione says incredulously, "It's been eight hours, surely even you must want this ridiculous match to be over!?"

Harry leans over and whispers quietly into Hermione's ear. Everyone surrounding them tries to lean in and hear what is being said but are unable to. They watch in fascination as Hermione's eyes widen in shock and she just stares at Harry in disbelief before she begins to crack up.

"Oh. My. God. Really Harry? Really!?"

Harry nods his head smugly.

"Fine, fine I'll do it but… wow… just wow."

And with that Hermione gathers her things and heads to the library.

**s**

**xXx-Scene Break-xXx**

**s**

Most people would be surprised to find that Hermione would support Harry in his efforts to extend the Quidditch match so readily. But those people are idiots. Harry was one of her best friends, she loved him as a brother and for the first time in forever he was happy. Not only that but he was taking a stand against the establishment that wasn't hurting anyone, not really, and his idea was really quite clever as well, which she could appreciate. But mostly, they should never have underestimated just how much Hermione Jean Granger hated Quidditch.

It was hilarious because after five years Harry had come to the same conclusion she had on day one, that Quidditch was a stupid sport and that it made even the most intelligent and kind witch or wizard turn into gigantic idiotic assholes. But instead of ending the match and just leaving it at that, Harry wanted to force Quidditch on these people the same way that he felt they were forcing it on him and had forced it on her ever since she had gotten here.

She quickly found the book that she needed and in a matter of minutes found exactly what Harry had asked for. A game of Quidditch could only end if the snitch was caught, unless, all parties involved agreed upon other requirements to end the game. Such as a time limit, or a certain goal limit was reached. If no such limit was agreed upon beforehand, then terms could be named if all players and officials involved agreed to said changes.

They were magically bound to continue playing, and Hermione couldn't help but marvel at the stupidity of it all. They literally could not stop playing unless all players agreed to end the game and she had seen the glint in Harry's eyes, he had not intentions of stopping anytime soon.

"Oh Harry."

Yes it was owl year, but quite honestly Hogwarts was such a joke this year and she was more than enough prepared already that it didn't really affect her one way or the other. And she was with Harry on this one, she was sick of this place turning on her friend every year. Sick of the way that people treated him like a villain every time they perceived he had done something wrong and then to have the staff do nothing about it. And in the end, when Harry was proven right, they acted as if they had done nothing wrong, the bloody hypocrites. No she was firmly on team Harry's side in all of this.

She quickly gathers her things up once more and makes her way back out to the Quidditch pitch where evening had fallen and the sun was beginning to set. She quickly waves Harry over and tells him the information, loving the brilliant smile that he beams at the news she had just brought him, and just in time too as Madam Hooch, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Umbridge, Hermione refused to think of her as a professor, and Professor Dumbledore all stood in the middle of the field.

Harry kisses her on the cheek. "You're the best Hermione." He smiles.

She bats him away playfully, "Go on you goof."

Harry gives her one last wink before he flies down to join the rest of the players down in the middle of the pitch with the officials.


End file.
